I recently attended the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland as a commissioner. Like church governing bodies around the world we discussed a host of issues. The one that drew the most publicity was on the subject of human sexuality.

In Scotland as well as in the entire United Kingdom, civil partnerships between same sex couples have been legal since last December. The question arose as to whether or not ministers of the Kirk could perform civil partnership blessings without fear incurring the disciplinary wrath of a presbytery.

As church law currently stands, there are no barriers to performing such blessings, other than the dictates of one’s own conscience. The Church of Scotland has aligned itself with the law of the land in recognizing that some of its employees and ministers are in same-sex civil partnerships by providing the spousal benefits exactly the same as heterosexual married couples.

The council responsible for this issue put forward a report at the General Assembly suggesting that the matter of blessing same-sex civil partnerships remain as the current status quo of one of the choices dictated by individual conscience.

Of course, individual conscience is never good enough for folks who claim exclusive rights to Scriptural interpretation. After much debate, which was characterized by a tone of civility and after a few wrangling counter-motions, the original report was sent down to the presbyteries for their vote.

If a majority of presbyteries reject the report, it still leaves the status quo in effect until a new status quo is enacted through the same process. In the meantime, the perception is that the Church of Scotland has taken a stand to be an open, inclusive and affirming Church.

As far as I can tell, hell has not frozen over. I include an attachment of a last minute booklet, fairly basic and easily accessible to the person in the pew, to which I and many other progressives in the Kirk had the honour of being signatories. Also the link to our fledgling progressive organization is: www.onekirk.org.

God be with you as the General Assembly of the PCUSA takes place.

Take care – John Mann

The Rev. Dr. Mann moved a few years ago from the U.S. to Scotland, where he is pastor of a congregation of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow. He shares occasional reflections with us here, from the other side of the Atlantic.